Mothers Inside and Out? Pseudo-Families and Motherhood in a Women's Prison

• NCJ Number: 307194
• Journal: Crime & Delinquency Volume: 23 Dated: 2022 Pages: 1-23
• Author(s): Julia Dillavou; Derek A. Kreager; Theodore Greenfelder; Yiwen Zhang
• Date Published: 2022
• Length: 23 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2016-MU-MU-0011
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical)
• Award: Understanding Incarceration and Re-Entry Experiences of Female Inmates and their Children: The Women''s Prison Inmate Networks Study (WO-PINS)

Annotation

This study examines the phenomenon of pseudo-families in a women’s prison.

Abstract

This study explores pseudo-family membership and pseudo-motherhood among 132 women incarcerated in a maximum-security prison. Self-reported data reveal that the pseudo-family remains an active concept in the sampled prison, with over half of the surveyed women reporting prison family membership. The pseudo-family is a longstanding carceral concept, but its existence and characteristics are uncertain in contemporary women’s prisons. Pseudo-mothers are perceived as maternal, supportive, and wise by their pseudo-children. Multivariate OLS and logistic regressions suggest that pseudo-mothers had similar relationship quality with, and visitation from, their biological children, compared to other imprisoned mothers. These findings contribute to our understanding of women’s adaptations to incarceration and have implications for family reunification policies. (Published Abstract Provided)